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theohume's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, War, and Death
elturko64's review against another edition
4.0
A brutal and honest graphic novel on war. The book ranges from various war's throughout history through 5-8 pages of short stories. It's very impressive along with the art which is beautiful and each story is drawn from a different artist. I think the one major problem I had is that some of the dialogue/writing is a bit hoaky. Besides that these short stories on war are fantastic.
rickklaw's review
5.0
Following the success of their EC-inspired horror anthology [b:Creepy|2849538|Creepy Archives (Archive Editions (Graphic Novels))|Various|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61bHf7HgxzL._SL75_.jpg|2875661], publisher James Warren and editor [a:Archie Goodwin|44712|Archie Goodwin|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] began Blazing Combat in 1965. The new magazine employed a similar format, using many of the same artists of the previous Warren publication -- [a:Joe Orlando|80547|Joe Orlando|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], [a:Reed Crandall|220178|Reed Crandall|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], [a:John Severin|54921|John Severin|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], [a:Al Williamson|92186|Al Williamson|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], [a:Gray Morrow|324217|Gray Morrow|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], [a:Russ Heath|54917|Russ Heath|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], [a:Alex Toth|62990|Alex Toth|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], and [a:Wally Wood|80540|Wally Wood|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]. Like Creepy, Blazing Combat also featured [a:Frank Frazetta|142759|Frank Frazetta|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] covers, and Goodwin scripts in a magazine format. But unlike its predecessor, Blazing Combat died an ignoble death after just four issues. Fantagraphics collects the complete run and outlines the whole sordid history via interviews with Warren and Goodwin in the handsome hardback Blazing Combat.
Modeling the content after [a:Harvey Kurtzman|80542|Harvey Kurtzman|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s legendary EC comics [b:Two-Fisted Tales|1154252|EC Archives Two-Fisted Tales Volume 1 (EC Archives)|Harvey Kurtzman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181446275s/1154252.jpg|1141752] and [a:Frontline Combat|80542|Harvey Kurtzman|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], Goodwin focused on the grim realities of war. The American public in 1965, a broad majority of which supported the newly-escalating involvement in Vietnam, proved ill suited for the new comic.
[War is:] a crazy way to settle things and you could be very sympathetic to the people who were stuck with having to fight them.
—Archie Goodwin
The first story of issue one ("Viet-Cong!") focused on the mistakes made by American soldiers in Vietnam and included scenes of torture and killing of villagers. Goodwin and artist Orlando teamed up for two more Vietnam stories, both well-rendered morality plays. Their most famous and controversial tale ("Landscape!" from Issue 2) related the tale of a Vietnamese rice farmer whose life is inextricably altered by the ongoing conflict.
After the second issue, the military banned Blazing Combat from bases citing the anti-war stance. The American Legion also protested, and most distributors stopped carrying the magazine. The quarterly publication limped on for another two issues.
If the censors had delved beneath the perceived bias, they would have discovered some of the finest war stories and illustration in the medium's history. Goodwin and his cadre of contributors detailed the uniquely personal views of soldiers and civilians through several engagements: the Revolutionary War, the U.S. Civil War, Indian Wars, both World Wars, and the Korean War, with a side trip through the Ancient Greek battle at Thermopylae. The dynamic art leaps off the pages throughout. In particular, Toth and Morrow created some of the best works of their long careers. Goodwin actually celebrated soldiers, sailors, and airmen rather denigrated them. Without leaning on glory and sensationalism, Blazing Combat focused on heroism, sacrifice, and dignity.
Archie [Goodwin:] was a prophet in his own time. He knew. He didn't have to wait until 1973 to find out that the war was a mistake.
—James Warren
This review originally appeared in "War on Two Fronts", Nexus Graphica May 1 2009.
Modeling the content after [a:Harvey Kurtzman|80542|Harvey Kurtzman|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s legendary EC comics [b:Two-Fisted Tales|1154252|EC Archives Two-Fisted Tales Volume 1 (EC Archives)|Harvey Kurtzman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181446275s/1154252.jpg|1141752] and [a:Frontline Combat|80542|Harvey Kurtzman|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], Goodwin focused on the grim realities of war. The American public in 1965, a broad majority of which supported the newly-escalating involvement in Vietnam, proved ill suited for the new comic.
[War is:] a crazy way to settle things and you could be very sympathetic to the people who were stuck with having to fight them.
—Archie Goodwin
The first story of issue one ("Viet-Cong!") focused on the mistakes made by American soldiers in Vietnam and included scenes of torture and killing of villagers. Goodwin and artist Orlando teamed up for two more Vietnam stories, both well-rendered morality plays. Their most famous and controversial tale ("Landscape!" from Issue 2) related the tale of a Vietnamese rice farmer whose life is inextricably altered by the ongoing conflict.
After the second issue, the military banned Blazing Combat from bases citing the anti-war stance. The American Legion also protested, and most distributors stopped carrying the magazine. The quarterly publication limped on for another two issues.
If the censors had delved beneath the perceived bias, they would have discovered some of the finest war stories and illustration in the medium's history. Goodwin and his cadre of contributors detailed the uniquely personal views of soldiers and civilians through several engagements: the Revolutionary War, the U.S. Civil War, Indian Wars, both World Wars, and the Korean War, with a side trip through the Ancient Greek battle at Thermopylae. The dynamic art leaps off the pages throughout. In particular, Toth and Morrow created some of the best works of their long careers. Goodwin actually celebrated soldiers, sailors, and airmen rather denigrated them. Without leaning on glory and sensationalism, Blazing Combat focused on heroism, sacrifice, and dignity.
Archie [Goodwin:] was a prophet in his own time. He knew. He didn't have to wait until 1973 to find out that the war was a mistake.
—James Warren
This review originally appeared in "War on Two Fronts", Nexus Graphica May 1 2009.
rosseroo's review
4.0
As someone who's not a comics buff, I'd never heard of Blazing Combat until I stumbled across this book's arresting pop art cover in the library. Since I like graphic storytelling and military history, I picked it up and took it home. If you're familiar with the four original comic books (or rather "magazines," as this title was published) which appeared over the course of ten months in 1965-66, then you know what to expect. If you never saw those, then you're in for a treat, 'cause here are unsanitized stories of war from throughout (mostly) American history. In the interviews with the original writer and publisher that appear at the end of the book, they both cite Harvey Kurtzman's 1950s war comics as the primary influence on Blazing Combat. The concept was not to be anti-war (as many have accused the stories of being), but to represent the reality of war -- mainly illustrating the adage that "war is hell."
The 29 stories do so, ranging from the American Revolution through the Vietnam War that was just starting to heat up during the time the stories were originally published. Each tends to focus on a lone soldier and his own struggle to survive and cling to humanity, or in some cases, turn away from it. Some do tell "heroic" or inspiring stories, such as the Battle of Britain, or the amazing career of World War I Canadian ace Billy Bishop (72 confirmed kills!), but others show the darker side of war, such as a WWII G.I. prying gold fillings from dead bodies in the Pacific theater, or the terror of fresh troops. Almost every story is told from a soldier's point of view, a notable exception being "Landscape" -- a Vietnam story that shows the war's effect on a peasant farmer, in a remarkably prescient critique of all the problems of that benighted war.
All the stories were authored or coauthored by longtime comics writer-editor Archie Goodwin, and as such, have a fairly uniform voice. At times, they sometimes drift into cliche, such as the ones whose closing panels are a dead soldier's open wallet photo of wife and child, or a dead GI's valentine, and other such maudlin touches. There's also the regrettable abundance of explanation points, which appear at the end of practically every other sentence. But at roughly 5-8 pages each, they have a consistent rhythm and are generally solid enough little dramas. The one outlier is "Survival," a stellar Twilight Zoneish tale of a man trying to stay alive in a frozen post-nuclear war landscape.
As with pretty much every book I've seen published by Fantagraphics, the production is outstanding. High-quality matte paper retains the detail of the artwork (which was reproduced from the original films), beautiful printing, binding, etc. The range of artists ensure that there's a nice mix of styles throughout, which keeps the book from getting visually stale. Almost all are quite good, and special mention has to be made of Russ Heath's work in "Give and Take," which stands heads and shoulders above the rest. The only quibble I have is that the four covers to the original comics appear only as a small spread at the back of the book. These were amazing paintings by Frank Frazetta, and it's a real shame they couldn't have gotten their own full page each. On the whole though, the book is an amazing value, and makes a great gift for anyone interested in American military history or the history of comics.
The 29 stories do so, ranging from the American Revolution through the Vietnam War that was just starting to heat up during the time the stories were originally published. Each tends to focus on a lone soldier and his own struggle to survive and cling to humanity, or in some cases, turn away from it. Some do tell "heroic" or inspiring stories, such as the Battle of Britain, or the amazing career of World War I Canadian ace Billy Bishop (72 confirmed kills!), but others show the darker side of war, such as a WWII G.I. prying gold fillings from dead bodies in the Pacific theater, or the terror of fresh troops. Almost every story is told from a soldier's point of view, a notable exception being "Landscape" -- a Vietnam story that shows the war's effect on a peasant farmer, in a remarkably prescient critique of all the problems of that benighted war.
All the stories were authored or coauthored by longtime comics writer-editor Archie Goodwin, and as such, have a fairly uniform voice. At times, they sometimes drift into cliche, such as the ones whose closing panels are a dead soldier's open wallet photo of wife and child, or a dead GI's valentine, and other such maudlin touches. There's also the regrettable abundance of explanation points, which appear at the end of practically every other sentence. But at roughly 5-8 pages each, they have a consistent rhythm and are generally solid enough little dramas. The one outlier is "Survival," a stellar Twilight Zoneish tale of a man trying to stay alive in a frozen post-nuclear war landscape.
As with pretty much every book I've seen published by Fantagraphics, the production is outstanding. High-quality matte paper retains the detail of the artwork (which was reproduced from the original films), beautiful printing, binding, etc. The range of artists ensure that there's a nice mix of styles throughout, which keeps the book from getting visually stale. Almost all are quite good, and special mention has to be made of Russ Heath's work in "Give and Take," which stands heads and shoulders above the rest. The only quibble I have is that the four covers to the original comics appear only as a small spread at the back of the book. These were amazing paintings by Frank Frazetta, and it's a real shame they couldn't have gotten their own full page each. On the whole though, the book is an amazing value, and makes a great gift for anyone interested in American military history or the history of comics.
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